Consider not just more cuts, look for new revenue sources

What they think - 2 views: Investing in at-risk children

January 10, 2009|By David A. Bundy, Special to the sentinel

Orlando Sentinel columnists George DM-maz and Scott Maxwell have raised the frightening possibility that Florida's budget crisis could disproportionately impact Florida's most vulnerable citizens, and the Legislature is now in a special session to discuss significant budget cuts.

Florida faces an unprecedented economic crisis that requires swift, bold action -- preferably by leaders who look for innovative and possibly unpopular solutions. Before this week, most options being discussed were a continuation of across-the-board budget-cutting that will increase the burden on Florida taxpayers in the long run by eliminating preventive services and damaging Florida's global competitiveness.

I am glad to see that Gov. Charlie Crist and legislative leaders understand this dire situation and have been considering exemptions to some cuts in order to minimize the negative impacts on child-welfare services.

Sparing these organizations, which assist the state's most vulnerable citizens, including abused, neglected and abandoned children, is critical both now and in the regular legislative session to come.

Child-welfare services already stand at the base-level threshold of federal maintenance-of-effort requirements, which means further cuts could jeopardize millions in federal funding and put us at risk for federal penalties.

We could also lose the much-needed Title IV-E waiver that allows organizations the flexibility to use federal funds to serve children in their own homes, which has helped Florida greatly reduce the number of children in care. Loss of this waiver could not only cost Florida's Child Protection System about $26 million (plus an annual 3 percent funding increase called for in the waiver agreement), but also deny flexibility that has proved successful in helping to save abused, neglected and abandoned children.

Cuts alone are clearly not the answer. We must call upon lawmakers to consider new sources of revenue to get us through this economic crisis.

More than 1,500 citizens and nearly 100 organizations serving children, seniors and all Florida taxpayers have made their voices heard on this issue as well through the Florida's People -- Florida's Promise effort, which is calling upon our Legislature to demonstrate real leadership in dealing with Florida's historic budget shortfall.

There are several options beyond "tightening the belt" that could produce significant funding for Florida -- from reviewing nearly $1 billion in sales-tax exemptions and collecting taxes due on Internet sales, to maximizing usage of federal revenues and centralizing government regulatory checks to reduce bureaucracy.

Florida TaxWatch this week published a list of viable recommendations for reducing spending and generating much-needed revenue that the Legislature should consider. The reductions call for legislators to lead by example by assessing their own salaries and benefits and those of senior staff to preserve services for children. The Florida TaxWatch recommendations reflect the type of thoughtful analysis and focus on preservation of the core responsibilities of government that we all deserve from our elected officials.

Our legislators have a tough task as they make decisions on the budget next week, and I hope Floridians challenge their legislative representatives, who have not already joined the effort, to find responsible solutions that avoid the long-term dangers of across-the-board cuts.